上下身分离与齿轮效应

女人必须站在脚掌前端才能象针尖点地一样容易转动。但她不是转动整个身体，而只转动腰部以下的半身。腰就象连接上身和下身的旋转接头。因为她的上身靠在面前的男人身上，她只有转动她的下身，使其面对不同的方向，才能让腿绕着他迈步。这被称为“上下身分离”。

有经验的跟随者知道，她的上身稍微被领舞者一拧转，就表示而且必须导致她的下身立刻有个大转动。男人把她的躯干稍微拧向他想要她移动的方向，这只是一个信号。在接收到信号时，她需要转动她的臀部，直到它与上身成九十度。在这种扭曲的状态下，她能够在上身靠在男人身上的同时向他的侧边迈步。这个技巧适合女人柔软的身体并能突出她的女性美，因为她的臀部交替从一侧转到另一侧，而她的胸部却始终面对着领舞者。

运用上下身分离的一个典型舞步是“8”字步，其中男人带领她用一只脚在地上画一个“S”，然后用另一只脚在地上画另一个“S”。两个“S”是反向重叠的，所以它们看起来象个“8”。要跳“8”字步，她得把臀部转向男人的一边，用一只脚向前侧迈一步，然后把臀部转向他的另一边，用另一只脚向前侧迈另一步，最后再把臀部转回来面对他。运用上下身分离的另一个类似的舞步是后“8”字步。跳后“8”字步，她首先把臀部转向一边，用一只脚向后侧退一步，然后把臀部转向另一边，用另一只脚向后侧退另一步。运用上下身分离的第三个例子是葡萄藤步。葡萄藤步是一个“8”字步，一个侧步，一个后“8”字步，再一个侧步的环形组合。在所有这三个例子中，女人都保持胸部与男人相连，而臀部交替从一边转到另一边。

臀部的转动导致她的上身在他的怀里滚动，产生一种被称为“齿轮效应”的舒服感觉。胸部是她关注的中心。一切，包括情绪，感受，对音乐的诠释，意图和引诱，都是通过胸部来表达和交流的。女人不应该将胸脯粘在男人身上，而应该让它随着臀部的转动在男人胸前滚动。臀部每转向一边，她的胸脯也跟着滚向一边，直到其一侧与他身体的一侧接触。当臀部转向另一边时，她的胸脯也跟着滚动，直到其另一侧与他的另一侧接触。

胸脯的滚动是由臀部的转动引起的。要产生齿轮效应，跟随者得将臀部转足，直到她的胸脯跟着臀部一起滚动。她应该避免突然和生硬的转动，而使胸脯能够滚动得柔顺，舒适而有音乐感。这并非易事，需要相当的功夫才能做到。不熟悉上下身分离的初学者往往使用交叉步来代替转臀，结果其上身一直保持贴附而不滚动。探戈是一个用身体互相取悦的舞蹈。有经验的跟随者善于用自己的身体来挑逗领舞者，正如有经验的领舞者善于把跟随者的女性美充分展现出来。齿轮效应能增加舞蹈的感官享受。贴身探戈的这一特点是开式探戈所缺乏的。两种舞蹈风格截然不同，这是其中的原因之一。

Dissociation and Gear Effect

The woman must stand on the ball of the foot so that she can pivot as if on a fixed pin. But she does not pivot her whole body. She only pivots her lower body from the waist down. The waist is like the swivel that joins the upper body and the lower body. Because her upper body is connected to the man who is in front of her, she has to rotate her lower body, making it face a different direction to facilitate her movement around him. This is known as “dissociation.”

An experienced follower knows that a small twist of her torso by the leader indicates, and must result in a big swivel of her lower body. The man leads her by turning her torso slightly to the direction that he wants her to go. On receiving the signal, she needs to make a big rotation of her hips until they are perpendicular to her upper body. In this twisted position she is able to walk on the side of the man while her chest is connected to his. The technique suits the flexible body of the woman and highlights her femininity, as she alternately turns her hips side to side while her chest is permanently facing the leader.

A typical figure using dissociation is the ocho, in which the man leads her to draw an S on the floor with one foot, and then draw another S on the floor with the other foot. The two S’s are overlapped in the opposite directions so they look like the figure 8. To dance the ocho, she has to swivel her hips to one side and make a forward step with one foot, then swivel her hips to the other side and make a forward step with the other foot, and then swivel her hips back to face the man. A similar figure using this technique is the back ocho, in which she dances the ocho backward. To do so, she first swivels her hips and steps backward to one side of him with one foot, then swivels her hips and steps backward to the other side of him with the other foot. A third example using this technique is the molinete, which is a combination of the front and back ochos with a side step in between in a circular motion. In all three examples the woman keeps her chest connected to the man and rotates her hips from one side to the other alternately.

The rotation of her lower body causes her chest to roll slightly on his torso, generating a pleasant sensation known as “gear effect.” The chest is the center of her attention through which everything, including emotion, feeling, music interpretation, intention and seduction, is expressed and exchanged. The woman should not glue her chest on the man’s torso, but should let it roll side to side as she swivels her hips back and forth. At each swivel, only one side of her chest is in touch with his. As she rotates her hips to the other side, her chest rolls along until the other side touches his.

The rolling of the chest is caused by the rotation of the hips. To create the gear effect, the woman has to swivel  her lower body fully until her chest rolls along. She needs to make the rolling void of abruptness and bumpiness so it feels smooth, musical and comfortable, which is not easy and needs a lot of practice to master. A beginner who cannot do dissociation often uses crossed steps instead. Consequently, her chest remains square and does not trundle. Tango is a dance in which both partners pleasure each other with their bodies. An experienced follower knows how to use her body to seduce the leader, just as an experience leader knows how to display her feminine beauty. Gear effect increases the sensual pleasure of the dance, a feature of the close-embrace tango that is missing in the open-embrace style. It is one of the things that make the two styles fundamentally different.

探戈与整体观念（INTEGRITY）

我们跳探戈的方式反映了我们是谁。我们是一个强国。我们习惯于弱小国家听我们的，而不是我们听他们的。我们习惯于我行我素，按自己的意愿行事，而不管他人的想法和价值观。我们不顾其他国家的主权，以自由的名义发动战争，推翻我们不喜欢的政府，侵犯别人对自己的创作——如阿根廷探戈——的 权利，并按我们的意志毫无敬意地对待它。我们的政治家只维护他们所代表的特殊集团的利益而不尽其职地平衡所有人的利益。“按我说的做，否则没门！”是他们 在华盛顿及国境内外的任何地方做事的方式。我们已经失去了当我们是小弱穷国时曾有过的伟大，宽宏和谦逊的气度，而成为一个自以为是，固执己见，不顾别人， 有失偏颇，蛮不讲理的人民。

在我们的舞会上常见的不尊重人，不守规矩，显摆卖弄，危及他人，侵犯别人空间，阻挡交通，撞人，以及其他许多不当行为，都是缺乏INTEGRITY影 响跳舞的例子。探戈讲究礼貌，尊重，体贴，合作，服从，礼让和关爱。自我中心，不顾他人，麻木不仁和自高自大的人无法超越自己，因而不能与人合作，也跳不 好探戈。探戈涉及内部和外部，运动和感觉，优美和舒适，身体和心灵等多种辩证关系。一个浅薄，偏执，片面的人无法超越表面而欣赏探戈的深度。这样的人往往 只注重步法而忽略舞伴关系，舞伴间的连接，感觉，舒适，态度，及探戈的礼仪和文化。他们认为能跳花步的就是好舞者，但事实未必如此。我们有时看到一个舞者过分表现自己而让他的舞伴相形见拙。这样的人是好舞者吗？一个好舞者不能只有技能，还需要具备INTEGRITY。

很多人认为跳得美的探戈就是好探戈，这也未必是事实。探戈既有看得见的一面，也有看不见的一面。人们可以发展旨在提高视觉印象的技能，也可以发展旨在增加感官快乐的技能。有人故意偏离探戈的精髓，开放拥抱，分离舞伴，牺牲探戈的亲密，深情，感性和舒适，只追求令人乍舌的视觉效果。这样的舞蹈纵然看起来惊险夺目，我也不认为是好探戈。一个好探戈是集多种元素，包括感性，亲密，感情，心灵共鸣，舒适，优雅和美丽为一体的。

INTEGRITY不 仅是人品和思维严谨的问题。探戈更适合重视整体价值而不是只重视个人价值的文化。在一个重视整体价值的文化中，人们学会超出自我考虑问题，学会体贴，尊重 他人和与人合作。过分强调个人自由和个人主义可以让人把“我”看得高于一切。当这样的人有机会说了算的时候，那往往是事情在我们的政治舞台和探戈舞会中会 如此一团糟的原因。

INTEGRITY是超越有形，外表和自我而理解他人对自己，不见对所见，实质对表面，内容对形式，感觉对运动，舒适对美丽等的重要性。探戈需要INTEGRITY，因为它涉及到很多元素。让我们希望，正如一位读者所说，“探戈是帮助这个文化走上正道的又一个工具。”

*注：INTEGRITY具有整体，全面，完整，完美品德等多种意思。

Tango and Integrity

The way we dance tango reflects who we are. We are a big, strong and powerful nation. We are accustomed to that small and weak nations listen to us, and not we listen to them. We tend to do whatever we want, or have our own way, despite what other people want or value. We disregard other nations’ sovereign rights, launch wars in the name of freedom, overthrow governments that we don’t like, violate their entitlement to their own creations—Argentine tango, for example, and treat which disrespectfully at our will. Our politicians fight only for the special interests they represent and fail to balance the interests of all people. “My way, or no way!” is how they do things in Washington and elsewhere within and beyond our borders. We have lost the greatness, magnanimity and humility that we used to have when we were a small, weak and poor nation, and become a self-important, single-minded, inconsiderate, unbalanced, obstinate, and arrogant people.

Contempt, disobedience, showoff, self-glorification, endangering others, invading other’s space, blocking the traffic, running into people, and other misconducts in our milongas are examples of how the lack of integrity affects our tango dancing. Tango requires manner, respect, thoughtfulness, cooperation, obedience, yielding, love and care. A self-centered, inconsiderate, insensitive and arrogant person is not able to see beyond oneself, thus cannot cooperate with others and dance tango well. Tango involves dualities such as external and internal, movement and feeling, beauty and comfort, body and soul, etc. A shallow, obstinate and unbalanced person cannot see beyond the surface and appreciate the depth of tango. Such individuals tend to focus only on the footwork, and overlook the partnership, connection, feeling, comfort, manner, etiquette and culture of tango. They think that he who can do fancy steps is a good dancer, but in fact that is not necessarily true. We sometimes see a dancer so over performing himself it puts his partner into shame. Is such man a good dancer? No. Skills alone do not make a good dancer. It takes integrity as well.

Many people think that a beautiful tango is a good tango. That is not necessarily true either. Tango has both tangible and intangible sides. One can develop skills aiming at increasing its visual impression, or one can develop skills aiming at increasing its sensual pleasure. There are people who deliberately deviate from the essence of tango, break the embrace, drift apart the partners, and sacrifice the intimacy, soulfulness, sensuality and comfort of the dance, just so that they can achieve stunning visual effects for impression. I don’t think such is a good tango even if it looks dazzling and striking. A good tango embodies a pleasing integration of all elements, including sensuality, intimacy, feeling, emotion, soulfulness, comfort, elegance and beauty.

Integrity is not only a matter of moral character and sound thinking. Tango fits better a culture that values integrity than a culture that values self-interests. In a culture that values integrity, people learn to think beyond oneself and be more considerate, respectful and cooperative. Overemphasis on personal liberty and individualism could make people put “me” above everyone else. When such people gain the opportunity to be in charge, that is often why things get so wrong in our politics and milongas.

Integrity is the ability to see beyond the tangible, external and self, to understand the importance of others to oneself, the invisible to the visible, the substance to the surface, the content to the form, the feeling to the movement, and the comfort to the beauty. Tango needs integrity because it involves many elements. Let’s hope that, as a reader said, “Tango is one more tool to help this culture on its way.”

探戈中的平衡

由身体位置和姿势的变化而引起的感觉被称为平衡感。内耳中的半规管和前庭器官是产生平衡感的器官。因疾病，药物或酗酒而造成平衡器官功能失调的人不能很好地保持平衡。平衡感可以通过训练来提高。有些经过训练的人比其他人有更好的平衡感。例如，女子体操运动员可以在平衡木上做高难度的动作，杂技演员能凭良好的平衡感走钢丝。有经验的舞者也有很好的平衡感，他们能够在复杂的运动中保持平衡。

跳舞就象骑自行车。骑自行车是用车轮来保持平衡。跳舞是用步子来保持平衡。所有的舞者都需要有良好的平衡感，而女人尤其如此，因为女人在跳舞时是由男人驾驶的。男人把女人的身体往他想要她移动的方向略微倾斜。女人移动多远则取决于她的平衡感。如果她不准确地踩在为保持平衡而必须踩在的位置，她就可能站不稳。站不稳的女人得依赖于男人的帮助，从而变得沉重。男人可能喜欢女人偶尔依赖他的感觉，但如果她总是挂在他身上并抓着他来做每一个旋转和扭动，那对他也会是相当的负担。女人需要知道，保持自身的平衡是她在舞蹈时显得轻盈的关键。有些女人习惯性地依靠男人来做维持平衡，结果，她们自己的平衡感未得到发展。

探戈因两个舞伴在舞蹈中亲密地靠在一起形成一个A字形框架而有自己独特的平衡问题。A字形框架是个互相支持的稳定框架。无经验的女人往往没有意识到，她对男人的支持同男人对她的支持一样重要。如果她向后仰，就会使他失去平衡。有时女人斜靠在男人身上多一点，这并无太大妨碍，因为男人强壮而女人轻盈。但是，如果她斜靠得太多，也可能变得沉重。用倾斜的姿势跳舞需要背部强健。背部无力的女人不能维持这种姿势，尤其是当男人搂她搂得比较低时。有经验的女人会向两个方向跟男人保持对称的抗衡力量：他的胸把她向后顶，而他的胳膊把她向前搂。有些女人在对抗时用力过猛，从而变得沉重。女人需要知道，与男人保持平衡是与他保持一种静止的匀速直线运动或匀速旋转运动，而不是与他摔跤角力。她应该小心地使用适当的抗衡，以避免变得沉重。

另一方面，男人应避免搂女人的腰，因为那可能限制她的行动，并在她软弱的部位增添压力。个子高大的男人应该用肚子而不是胸脯来带领身材矮小的女人。他应该避免前倾过多或弯腰撅腚，因为如果她的背部力量不足的话，那会导致她向后仰。随着她背部力量和平衡能力的增强，她或许能承受更大的压力，能更多地斜靠在男人身上以扩大运动的可能性，甚至想要男人搂着她的腰。男人经常看到有经验的舞者这样跳舞或那样跳舞。有些男人可能会在舞伴还没有这些能力之前就试着模仿他们。请记住，探戈可以以许多方式跳。每个人都应该选择适合自己舞伴能力的方式来跳舞。

Balance

The sense induced by the change of the body’s location and position is called the sense of equilibrium. The semicircular canal and vestibule in the inner ear are organs related to this sense. Those whose equilibrium organs are dysfunctional due to disease, drug or alcoholism cannot keep their balance well. Balance can be improved through training. Some people have developed better balance than others as a result. Woman gymnasts, for example, can do difficult movements on a balance beam. Acrobats depend on their good sense of equilibrium to do high-wire walking. Experienced dancers also have a good sense of equilibrium so they can stay balanced in complicated movements.

Dancing is like riding a bicycle. In bicycling one uses the wheel to keep balance. In dancing one uses the steps to keep balance. All dancers need to have a good sense of equilibrium, but a woman particularly needs so because she is the one being driven by the man in the dance. The man leads the woman by tilting her body in the direction that he wants her to move. How far she moves, however, is decided by her sense of equilibrium. If she steps not exactly where she should to keep her balance, she could fall. A falling woman relies on the man for her stability, thus becomes heavy. The man may like the feeling that the woman occasionally depends on him, but if she hangs on him all the time, and holds on to him in every turns and twists, it could be quite a burden for him. A woman needs to know that keeping her own balance is the key for her to be weightless in the dance. Some women habitually rely on men for their movement and stability; as a result, their sense of equilibrium fails to develop.

Tango has a unique balance problem because the two partners intimately lean on each other to form an A-shape frame in the dance. The A-shape frame is a stable frame in which the two partners support each other. An inexperienced woman often doesn't realize that her support for the man is equally important as his for her. If she leans backward, she could pull him off his balance. Sometimes the woman leans slightly more on the man than the man on the woman, which is okay because he is strong and she is light. However, if she leans too much on him, it could be heavy. Dancing in a leaning position demands strength on her back. A woman with a weak back cannot sustain in that position, especially when the man holds her low. An experienced woman maintains certain resistance in symmetry to the forces that the man applies on her in both directions—his chest pushes her out, and his arm pulls her in. Some women counteract men with too much force, thus become heavy. The woman needs to know that to balance the man is to maintain a state of stillness, uniform-speed rectilinear motion, or uniform-speed winding motion, not to do wrestling. She has to be careful about how much resistance she applies to counteract the man, and avoid being heavy.

The man, on the other hand, should avoid holding the woman on her waist, as this may restrict her movement and add pressure on her weak spot. A tall man should use his stomach rather than chest to lead a short woman. He should avoid leaning forward too much or bending his torso against the woman, as this may cause her to bend backward if she does not have a strong back. As her strength and balance improve, she may sustain more pressure, lean more on the man to expand her movement possibilities, or even want the man to hold her on her waist. Men often see experienced dancers dance this or that way, and some may try to imitate them before their partner is ready. Keep in mind that tango can be danced in many ways. One should choose a way that suits the ability of one's partner.

人们为什么跳探戈舞?

我们跳探戈舞的原因与生活中的阴暗面有点关系。有人说他们跳探戈舞是因为他们喜欢探戈音乐，但他们可以在家里听音乐。有人说他们是喜欢运动，但他们也可以做操锻炼身体。有人说他们喜欢探戈无拘无束的形式，但武术或许也能让他们得到这样的满足。有人说探戈在艺术上具有挑战性，但芭蕾舞在这方面标准更高。如果这些是人们跳探戈的原因，那就不会有探戈了，因为替代的东西很多。

探戈之所以为人们所喜爱有它独特的原因。大多数舞蹈都是为庆祝生活而创造的，但探戈却服务于不同的目的。它是由不幸的人们为躲避痛苦而发明的。他们来舞会不是为了炫耀自己，而是为了暴露自己的脆弱和寻求安慰，为了在舞蹈中跳出自己的孤独，思乡，怀旧和悲伤，为了找一个可以依靠的肩膀，为了躲入一个可以疗伤的避难所，为了满足对爱的渴望，为了触摸另一个人和被另一个人所触摸。这些都是普通人，穷人，移民，工人，服务生，店员，女佣，和出租车司机。他们也许貌不出众外表卑微，但你与他们跳舞时会感觉到，他们的怀抱是温暖而深情的，他们的心地是敏感而富于同情的，他们的感觉是深沉而真挚的，他们的动作是粗犷而有感染力的，他们的舞蹈是充满激情和感伤的。探戈是他们的避难所。这舞蹈的亲密，深情，感性和安慰，映照着并能满足他们内心深处人的需要。这种探戈，是仍然在不太富裕的社会如阿根廷和乌拉圭的舞会上跳着的探戈。

当然，并不是所有的人都有这需要。富裕，成功，自大和浅薄的人，举例说，喜欢探戈的美丽，却不认同它的目的。相反，他们用探戈来庆祝自己的生活，赞美自己的成功，夸耀自己的时髦，显示自己的傲慢，和炫耀自己的优越。传统探戈对他们来说是太朴素了，所以他们进行更改：采用开式拥抱，发明花哨步子，增添卖弄的技巧，使用另类音乐，交换男女角色，等等。结果，他们创造了一种作秀版的探戈。它看起来花俏而感觉空虚。这种探戈现在在我们这样的富裕社会成了一种时尚。

探戈在过去曾多次大难不死，我相信它也能战胜这一挑战，因为人的需要，欲望，渴望，柔弱，孤独，感伤，情爱，彼此依恋，和浪漫主义是人类本性的一部分，即使是心地最硬的汉子也在所难免。不幸的人当然更容易受伤害，这就是为什么他们创造了探戈。这也可以解释为什么探戈舞会在经济不景气的时候比经济繁荣时更加拥挤，为什么女性跳探戈的比男性更多，为什么探戈的复兴发生在世界上游子和移民比以往任何时候都多的现在。探戈永远是孤独，思乡，怀旧，渴求，脆弱，感伤和浪漫者的舞蹈​​。幸运的人也需要探戈，如果他们不被自己的成功和自大所盲目的话。毕竟，我们是人，而探戈是为所有向内寻找其人性的人创造的。

Why People Dance Tango

The reason we dance tango has something to do with the gloomy side of life. Some people say they dance tango because they like the music—but they can listen to the music at home. Some say they like the movements—but they can move their body in acrobats as well. Some say they like the unrestrained form of tango—but martial arts may give them the same satisfaction. Some say tango is artistically challenging—but ballet raises that standard even higher. If these were the reason people dance tango, then there would not be tango, because the alternatives are many.

Tango triumphs for a unique reason. While most dances are created to celebrate life, tango serves a different purpose. It is created by the less fortunate to shelter their sorrows. They do not come to the milonga to play peacocks, but to expose their vulnerability and seek comfort, to dance the loneliness, homesickness, nostalgia, and grief in them, to find a shoulder to rely on, to take refuge for their wounds, to quench their thirst for love, and to touch and be touched by another human being. These are the ordinary people, poor people, immigrants, workers, waiters, waitresses, shop assistants, maids, and taxi drivers. They may not be splendid in their appearance, but you feel it when you dance with them—their embrace is warm and affectionate, their heart is sensitive and sympathetic, their feeling is deep and sincere, their movement is raw and infectious, and their dance is passionate and sentimental. Tango is their refuge. The intimate, soulful, sensual and comforting nature of tango reflects and serves their deep, inward, human needs. This is the tango still danced in the milongas of less affluent societies, such as Argentina and Uruguay.

Not all people share these needs, of course. Rich people, successful people, arrogant people, and shallow people, for instance, like the beauty of tango but don’t embrace its purpose. Instead, they use tango to celebrate their life, to glorify their success, to show off their style, to display their ego, and to boast their superiority. The traditional tango is too modest for them, so they make changes—opening up the embrace, inventing fancy steps, adding ostentatious tricks, using exotic music, swapping gender roles, etc. As a result, they created a peacocky version of tango. It looks flashy and feels empty. This kind of tango now is the fashion in affluent societies such as ours.

Tango has survived many challenges in the past. It will survive this one as well, I believe, because needs, desires, yearnings, loneliness, tenderness, sentimentalism，mutual dependency, love, and romanticism are an intrinsic part of human nature even among the toughest. The less fortunate people are particularly vulnerable, which is why they created tango. This may also explain why milongas are more crowded in bad times than in good times, why more women dance tango than men, and why the revival of tango happens now when there are more travelers and immigrants in the world than ever before. Tango will always be the dance of the lonely, homesick, nostalgic, needy, vulnerable, sentimental and romantic. The fortunate people need tango, too, if they are not blind by their success and arrogance. After all, we are human, and tango is for all who search inward for their humanity.

CADENCIA

很多人把按音乐跳舞单纯理解为踩在节拍上，其实其中还有许多含义。例如，跳舞时使用CADENICA也是这方程式的一部分。CADENICA的意思是身体随音乐的节奏和速度而摆动。换句话说，按音乐跳舞不仅涉及步子的计时，也涉及身体摆动的计时。CADENICA是探戈舞的关键技术之一，可是往往被人们忽视了。

学习CADENICA，你首先需要学会摆动你的身体。大多数人甚至不知道如何摆动他们的腿，更不用说摆动身体了。要摆动腿，你得把重心放在一条腿上，同时把你的上身和胯提起，让另一条腿悬挂着，可以象钟摆一样自由摆动。您需要让那条腿的膝关节和踝关节垂直，使腿看起来修长秀美。现在，设想你的腿不是从胯部而是从胸部开始，也就是说，想象从胸部以下都是你的腿。胸部是你与舞伴相连接的地方。它可以作为把其下所有部分当成一个整体来摆动的支点。这样一来，不仅你的腿看起来修长而秀美，你整个的身体也显得瘦高而优雅。

摆动身体就象摆动一根三节棍。第一节是上身，第二节是臀部，第三节是腿。第一节的一点点摆动，将导致第二节较大的摆动，又将导致第三节更大的摆动。跟随者应该将身体放松，让带领者摆动她的上身，上身的摆动会带动她臀部的摆动，而臀部的摆动又会带动腿的摆动。她不应该在身体未动时就先动腿，而应该让腿跟随身体摆动。换句话说，腿的摆动不是由腿部肌肉引起的，而是躯干和臀部摆动的连锁反应。

这摆动是沿着水平方向。许多学生做不好CADENICA，因为他们只专注于沿垂直方向把脚踩在节拍上，缺乏沿水平方向的运动。做CADENICA需要每一步都产生足够的沿水平方向的运动。脚必须踩在节拍上，但惯性作用使身体在脚着地后继续沿水平方向摆过重心，直到另一只脚落地，或直到惯性减弱，身体摆回来。 CADENICA是两步之间的身体摆动。它感觉起来就好象浪拍击在岩石上后，水继续向前涌，然后撤退；又拍击在岩石上，继续向前涌，然后撤退......

一个好的领舞者知道如何利用惯性，按音乐的节奏和速度来摆动跟随者。领舞者必须意识到，跟随者是否按音乐跳舞在很大程度上取决于他的带领。许多时候，跟随者没有上拍是因为她的身体被摆动得太少或太多，太慢或太快，使她不能踩在节拍上。一个好的领舞者能够摆动得恰到好处，所以跟随者可以准确地踩在节拍上。同样，一个好的跟随者也会按音乐摆动她的身体和腿，尽力配合领舞者的带领。

CADENICA既用于社交探戈，也用于表演探戈，但它主要是一种社交探戈的技术，旨在提高舞蹈时的感官愉悦，而非视觉印象。使用CADENICA不仅需要良好的乐感，而且需要高超的平衡控制能力。这不是一件容易的事。然而，一旦学会了，两个亲密拥抱的身体随着音乐有节奏地一起摆动的愉快感觉会给舞蹈增添无穷的乐趣。

Cadencia

Many people think of dancing to the music only as stepping on the beat, but there is much more in it. Dancing with cadencia, for example, is also a part of the equation. Cadencia means the swing of the body in correspondence with the rhythm and speed of the music. In other words, dancing to the music involves not only timing the steps, but timing the swings of the body as well. Cadencia is one of the key techniques in tango that are essential to the dance but often being overlooked.

To learn cadencia, you first need to learn to swing your body. Most people don’t even know how to swing their leg, let alone to swing their body. To swing the leg, you need to stand on one foot and lift up your torso and hip until your free leg hangs loosely and can swing freely like a pendulum. You need to keep the knee and ankle of the leg straight while swinging it, so the leg looks long and graceful. Imagine, now, that your leg does not start from the hip but from the chest, that is, imagine everything below your chest is your leg. The chest is where you and your partner connect. It can be used as a fixed point to swing everything below it as a whole. That way, not only the line of your leg looks long and beautiful, but your whole body also looks tall and elegant.

Swinging the body is like swinging a cudgel of three linked sections. The first section is the torso. The second section is the hip. The third section is the leg. A little motion of the first section will lead to a bigger motion of the second section, which will lead to a still bigger motion of the third section. The follower should relax her body and let the leader swing her torso, which brings along the swing of her hip, which then brings along the swing of her leg. She should not move her leg first without the swing of her body, but should let the leg follow the body to swing. In other words, the swing of the leg is not caused by its muscle but by the swing of the torso and hip in a chain reaction under the law of mechanics.

The swing is in the horizontal direction. Many students fail to do cadencia because there is a lack of horizontal motion in their movement and they only focus on the vertical motion of stepping down on the beat. In order to do cadencia you need to produce enough momentum in the horizontal direction in each step. The foot must land on the beat, but the horizontal motion of the body continues after the foot lands, carrying the body to pass over the center of gravity due to the momentum until the other foot lands on the beat, or until the momentum diminishes and the body swings back. Cadencia is the motion of the body between two steps. It feels like after the wave of water hits the rock, it runs over it, and then retreats, and hits the rock again, runs over it, and then retreats…

A good leader knows how to use the momentum to swing the follower in correspondence with the rhythm and speed of the music. Leaders must be aware that whether the follower dances to the music depends to a large degree on the lead. Often, the follower fails to step on the beat because her body is led to swing too little or too much, too slow or too fast, disabling her to step on the beat. A good leader creates just enough swing, so the follower’s leg may land exactly on the beat. Likewise, a good follower times the swing of her body and leg to the music as well. She complements the lead in her own capacity.

Cadencia is used both in social tango and in performance tango, but it is primarily a social tango technique aiming at increasing the sensual pleasure rather than the visual impression of the dance. Dancing with cadencia requires not only excellent musicality but also superb balance control. It is not an easy task, but once you’ve learned to do it, the sensation of two bodies swinging together in a close embrace in unison with the rhythmic flow of the music will make the dance mush more pleasurable.

探戈是一种语言(二)

跳探戈舞就象与人交谈。你告诉她你打算如何移动。她告诉你她同意怎样跟随。你调整你的带领去适应她的跟随。她调整她的跟随来与你的带领吻合。无声的信息，包括感受，诠释，建议，反馈，适应等的交流，使两个舞伴有可能跳得象一个人一样。跳舞跳得好是良好沟通的结果。

为了沟通，人们需要讲同一种语言。如果不讲同一种语言，或使用生造的词语，或带有浓重的口音，别人将很难理解你。不使用同一种语言是我们探戈中的一个大问题。不同的领舞者往往以不同的方式带领相同的步子。不同的跟舞者往往对相同的带领作出不同的反应。领舞者抱怨跟舞者跟得不对。跟舞者抱怨领舞者带得不清楚。这往往是因为人们所奉行的标准不尽相同。

很多学生不理解标准化的重要性。他们不遵守常规的跳法，不听从老师的指示，忽视基础的东西。特别是年轻人，他们感兴趣的往往是非正常的和非传统的东西，喜欢用与标准探戈不同的方式跳舞。教师也一样，经常教新发明出来的，非标准的，不适合交谊舞的步子。专业舞蹈演员在表演时采用这样的步子是一回事，他们只同固定的舞伴合作并能在演出前编改排练。同陌生人在舞会上跳社交探戈舞则是另一回事，除非所有舞者都遵守普遍接受的规则和标准，他们是有没有办法互相沟通和动作和谐地即兴舞蹈的。

YouTube也为已经混乱的探戈语言添乱。学生可能会认为他们在网上看到的是标准的探戈，但实际上那是表演探戈或作秀，并不是在世界各地的舞会上大多数人所跳的社交探戈。大多数人所跳的探戈是布宜诺斯艾利斯的那种探戈。该城市是探戈的发源地，在那里探戈自上世纪初就产生了并得到推广，成为老百姓所喜爱的草根舞蹈。每天有来自世界各地的探戈爱好者在遍布全市的二百多个舞会上与当地人跳探戈舞。不管你在家里说什么探戈语言，当你访问布宜诺斯艾利斯时，你会发现他们的语言才是你必须学会的探戈语言。如果社交探戈需要一种世界通用的标准语言，这必须是布宜诺斯艾利斯的语言。

其他语言的历史也可以为我们提供一点借鉴。例如，汉语在历史上曾演变成许多不同的方言，以至不同地区的中国人无法彼此沟通理解。在过去一百年中，中国人试图用一种标准的方言来统一他们的语言。只有在近数十年，由于以北京方言为标准语言（普通话）的电视的普及，这个目标才部分地实现。许多生活在农村地区的中国人仍然使用外地人听不懂的当地方言。如果你学习汉语，你要学习普通话而不是当地方言。同样，如果你学习探戈，你要学习阿根廷探戈，而不是芬兰探戈。如果你的目的是与大多数人在舞会上跳探戈，你得学习社交探戈而不是表演探戈，而且你得学习在布宜诺斯艾利斯的舞会上所跳的老舞棍式探戈，而不是一些自我创造的，只在某些北美大学校园里跳的当地探戈。北美的一些大学校园是相当隔绝的。他们很少与其他探戈社区交流，也很少邀请外地老师来教。因此，他们发展了自己为外地舞者所不熟悉的探戈方言。同样，访问布宜诺斯艾利斯的外国人也经常发现自己无法与当地人跳舞，因为他们的跳法完全不相同。随着探戈的日益国际化，探戈语言演变成不同方言的可能性也增加了。如果不小心，我们可能会重蹈汉语的覆辙。

Tango Is a Language (II)

Dancing tango is like having a conversation with someone. You tell her how you intend to move. She tells you how she agrees to follow. You adapt your lead to her follow. She accommodates her follow to your lead. The silent exchanges of information—feelings, interpretations, suggestions, feedback and adjustments, etc., make it possible for the two of you to dance together as one unit. Good dancing is a result of good communication.

In order to communicate, you need to speak the same language. If you speak a different language, or use invented words, or talk with an accent, it would be hard for others to understand you. Not speaking the same language is a big problem in our tango. Different leaders often lead the same step differently. Different followers often follow the same lead differently. Leaders complain that followers do not follow properly. Followers complain that the lead is unclear. This happens because people do not abide by the same standard.

Many students fail to understand the importance of standardization. They disregard the conventions, overlook the instructions and neglect the fundamentals. Young people, in particular, tend to be interested in things that are abnormal and unconventional. They seek to dance in a way departing from the standard tango. Teachers, too, often teach invented and nonstandard steps unsuitable for social dancing. Using such steps in a show by professionals is one thing—they dance only with a fixed partner and can choreograph and rehearse the steps before the show. Dancing tango socially with casual partners in the milongas is another thing, where unless dancers conform to the generally accepted rules and standards, there is no way for them to communicate and improvise in unison with each other.

YouTube also adds confusions to the already divided tango language. Students may think what they see online is the standard tango, but in fact that is performance tango, or show tango, which is not the way most people dance tango in the milongas all over the world. The tango that most people dance is the style danced in the milongas of Buenos Aires, which is the birthplace of tango where tango is created and danced since the beginning of the last century, where tango is a grassroots dance of the ordinary people, and where people from all over the world come to dance tango with the locals everyday in over two hundred milongas all over the city. No matter what tango language you speak at home, when you visit Buenos Aires you will realize that their language is the tango language you have to conform to. If social tango needs a standard language to remain social tango worldwidely, that must be the language of Buenos Aires.

The history of some other languages may shed light on this. The Chinese language, for example, has historically developed into many dialects so different that people from various parts of China could not understand each other. For the past one hundred years, the Chinese tried to unify their language by conforming to a standard dialect. This is only partially accomplished in the recent decades thanks to the spread of the television, which uses Beijing dialect as the standard language (Mandrine). Many Chinese living in rural areas still use local dialects unintelligible to outsiders. If you study Chinese, you want to study Mandrine and not a local dialect. Likewise, if you learn tango, you want to learn Argentine tango and not Finnish tango. If your purpose is to dance tango in the milongas with most people, you want to study social tango and not performance tango, and you want to learn the milonguero style danced in the milongas of Buenos Aires, not some self-invented and localized style danced only in a university campus in North America. Some university campuses in North America are pretty isolated. They rarely associate with other tango communities and seldom invite outside teachers in to teach. As a result, they developed their own tango dialect unfamiliar to tango dancers elsewhere. Similarly, foreigners visiting Buenos Aires often find themselves unable to dance with the locals because they dance differently. As tango gains worldwide popularity, the possibility of tango language being transformed into different dialects increases. If we are not careful, we may end up repeating the history of the Chinese language.

社交探戈与表演探戈

我越思考探戈所面临的挑战，越觉得需要把社交探戈与表演探戈区分开。表演探戈的推销者往往说：“为什么要划一条线？它们都是探戈。探戈是一个东西。”但事 实并非如此。社交探戈和表演探戈是不同的舞蹈，服务于不同的场合，满足不同的需要。它们几乎在包括外观，拥抱，连接，步法，技巧，带领，跟随，感觉，哲学 等的所有方面都是不同的。对其中一种舞的任何定义都是对另一种舞的自然否定。事实上，只学过其中一种舞的人，如果未经学习就不会跳另一种舞。与其把表演探 戈当社交探戈兜销给初学者，倒不如说实话好，让他们知道实际上买的是什么。

社交探戈是一种大众舞。它简单易跳，适合普通百姓的口味，需求和能力。它是在拥挤的舞会上为取乐而不是为作秀跳的，并且受舞会规则的约束。它是一种亲密的 舞蹈，通常采用贴身拥抱以满足异性亲昵的需要，舞伴之间有许多身体接触。它是一种凭感觉即兴发挥的舞蹈，简单，紧凑，所以舞者能专注于音乐，拥抱，感受， 交流和同步运动。跳社交探戈舞是一种亲切，深情和个人的经验。对它来说，要紧的是感觉如何，而不是看上去如何。

表演探戈则是一种为舞台表演设计的精英舞。它是探戈的一种花哨而戏剧性的版本，其步法和技巧有相当难度，适合专业舞者而不适合普通百姓。它是一种经过编排 的运动型舞蹈，通常采用开式拥抱以增加运动的可能性。它的步子幅度大，花俏，眩目，危险，需要很大空间来跳。它不是旨在给舞者以亲密深情的个人体验，而是 以展示花哨步子和华丽动作来作秀为目的。它既不受舞会规则约束，也不适合在拥挤的舞会上跳。安全，舒适和简易并非其所关注。对它来说，要紧的是看上去如 何，而不是感觉如何。

我认为学习表演探戈对大多数社交舞者，特别在其学好社交探戈之前，没有太大益处。这不仅因为他们是在浪费时间和金钱——他们中很少有人会成为专业舞者，也因为没有社交探戈的基础, 他们不可能成为优秀的舞台探戈表演家。更糟的是，因学习表演探戈而养成的坏习惯，如用手带领和跟随，缺乏用身体交流的能力，重视外观而不重视感觉，无视他人的安全和舒适，华而不实的危险步法等，不仅妨碍他们自己享受社交探戈，也会在舞会上造成对他人的滋扰。

对于大多数人来说，社交探戈应该是他们学习探戈时的注重所在，因为他们跳探戈是为了在舞会上取悦自己和舞伴，而不是在舞台上取悦观众；因为他们想学一个简 单易跳，适合自己能力的舞蹈，而不是复杂难跳，遥不可及的舞蹈；因为他们想要一个亲密舒适，能满足他们与另一颗心灵交流之需要的舞蹈，而不是一个华而不 实，不舒服，表现自我的舞蹈；因为他们需要先成为一个好的社交舞者，并在学习表演探戈之前打下坚实的基础，如果他们最终决定学习表演探戈的话。

在美国，社交探戈和表演探戈被混为一谈，这是我们的舞会中问题很多的原因。在布宜诺斯艾利斯，两种舞是分开的。社交探戈是在舞会（沙笼，俱乐部，舞厅）里 跳的。表演探戈是在舞台上跳的。在舞台上跳表演探戈的专业舞者在舞会里也只跳社交探戈。教社交探戈的老师会说他们教社交探戈。教表演探戈的老师会说他们教 表演探戈。他们不挂羊头卖狗肉。两种舞蹈各组织独立的比赛。我认为世界其他地方也应该如此。

Social Tango and Performance Tango

The more I think about the challenges that tango is facing, the more I feel the need to draw a distinction between social tango and performance tango. People who promote performance tango often say, “Why draw a line? They are all tango. The tango is one.” But that is not true. Social tango and performance tango are different dances serving different occasions and for different purposes. They are different in almost every aspects, including appearance, embrace, connection, steps, techniques, lead/follow methods, feeling, and philosophy. Any definition describing one dance automatically rejects the other. In fact, people who only learn one dance are not able to dance the other dance. Instead of palming performance tango off onto beginners, it would be better to tell the truth, so students know what they actually get into.

Social tango is a popular dance. It is a simple and user-friendly dance, suited to the tastes, needs and abilities of ordinary people. It is danced on a crowded dance floor for pleasure and not for show, and is administered by the milonga codes. It is an intimate dance typically danced in a close embrace with considerable body contact between the partners to serve the need for intimacy between the opposite sexes. Improvised and feeling-oriented, it is danced in simple and compact steps so the dancers may concentrate on the feeling stirred by the music, the comfort and sensation of the embrace, the communication through torso contact between them, and the harmony of movement in unison with the music. Dancing social tango is an intimate, soulful and personal experience. What matters is how it feels and not how it looks.

Performance tango, on the other hand, is a highbrow dance. It is designed for show on the stage. It is a fancy and dramatized version of tango involving difficult steps and techniques not suited to ordinary people, but professionals with expert skills. It is a choreographed and movement-oriented dance, typically danced in an open embrace for broader movement possibilities. Its steps are wide, flashy, dazzling, often dangerous and requiring a lot of space to do. It is not intended to be an intimate, soulful and personal experience, but an exhibition of fancy steps and showy movements to impress the audience. It does not abide by the milonga codes and is not suited to dancing on a crowded dance floor. Safety, comfort and user-friendliness are not its concerns. What matters is how it looks and not how it feels.

I believe it is not for the best interest of most people to learn performance tango, especially before they have mastered social tango. Not only because it’s a waste of time and money, as very few of them will ever be performers on the stage, but also because without the foundation of social tango, it is impossible for them to be good performers anyway. Worse still, the bad habits acquired from learning performance tango, such as using arms and hands to lead and follow, the inability to use the torso to communicate, the focus on appearance rather than feeling, the disregard of the safety and comfort of others, and the showy and dangerous footwork, will not only hinder their own enjoyment of social tango, but also cause disturbance to others in the milonga.

For most people, social tango is what they should focus their attention to in their study of tango, because they want to dance in the milonga for personal enjoyment and not on the stage to entertain others; because they want a simple and user-friendly dance suited to their ability, not a complicated and difficult dance beyond their reach; because they want an intimate, soulful and comfortable dance that serves their need for contact with another soul, not a gaudy and uncomfortable dance to show their ego; and because they want to be a good social dancer and lay a solid foundation before, if ever, they decide to learn performance tango.

In the U.S., social tango and performance tango are mixed, which is the cause of many problems in our milongas. In Buenos Aires, the two dances are separated. Social tango (Tango de Salon) is danced in the milongas. Performance tango (Tango Fantasia) is danced on the stage. Professionals who dance show tango on the stage will dance social tango when they go to a milonga. Those who teach social tango will say they teach social tango, and those who teach performance tango will say they teach performance tango. They don’t hang up a sheep’s head and sell dog meat. Separate competitions are organized for each dance. I believe this is how it should be elsewhere in the world as well.